Municipalities are asking their national government to better assist them in applying European IT legislation. It needs to be implemented within a year, but many municipalities have no idea how to get started. “There’s a slight panic,” says Sjoerd Hartholt, journalist at ICT magazine AG Connect.
Dutch municipalities have another year to implement the new European IT legislation. “That’s not a long time in the world of municipalities,” says Hartholt, “where it’s often slow to take new measures and adapt them to legislation.” The new European laws concern, among other things, network security, data processing and the application of artificial intelligence (AI).
“The contours of the new legislation are well known, but it is unclear exactly what implementation should look like”
Also, most municipalities don’t know how to get started. “The contours of the new legislation are well known,” says the AG Connect journalist. “But it’s not clear exactly what the processing should look like and which parts a municipality has to meet and which it doesn’t.”
Call for further support
So the majority awaits further instructions from the central government. While the European clock is ticking. At the ongoing congress of the Dutch VNG (Association of Dutch Municipalities) in Groningen, the municipalities tabled a motion asking the national government for more support. “They want clarity quickly,” says Hartholt. ‘Concerns are great.’
If municipalities do not get their affairs in order in time, they may be subject to European sanctions. “And they can really add up,” says Hartholt. «These are amounts of up to ten million, even if they will not be imposed immediately. However, it is important that these municipalities comply with the rules in time, because they are considered viable organisations.’
Source: BNR
Fernando Dowling is an author and political journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. He has a deep understanding of the political landscape and a passion for analyzing the latest political trends and news.
